Race Matters: Popular Clothing Retailer ASOS In Hot Water For Putting Black Model In “Slave” Shirt

Posted on February 9, 2016 - By
Bossip Staff

ASOS In Trouble After Featuring Black Model In Slave Shirt

Online clothing company ASOS is in serious trouble after some angry customers blasted the site for featuring a Black model in a shirt that read “Slave” according to Today reports:

The shirt was quickly removed, and the company pointed out that it was not an ASOS-branded product, but instead part of the ASOS Marketplace, a separate retail site that features outside designers.

Marketplace is a collection of independent sellers who must agree to our terms and conditions when they join,” ASOS told TODAY in a statement. “Whenever we find product that violates our policies we remove it immediately. There is also a ‘report this item’ link under every product picture. If you’d like to find out more about what is prohibited, please visit the Marketplace website.”

ASOS does not review products before they’re added to the Marketplace, but the company will “act very quickly” to remove sellers’ products that violate policy or cause considerable offense, a publicist added.

Still, some angry shoppers were quick to take screen shots of the image in question and post them on social media, alongside accusations of racism. Some called for a boycott of the company.

The clothing company has since apologized for not thinking of the severity of their actions:

@dylaneXOtilweod sorry, this wasn't meant to cause any offence and was about being a slave to a label. It really was extremely stupid of us